in her stomach when she saw how many of the people
were no longer there.
The scenes were
awful. Watching in this level of detail
made her feel like it was happening all over again. She wanted to close her eyes and turn it off,
but she was afraid she might miss something crucial. Then finally, after several painful minutes
of watching frame by frame, she saw it.
While dozens of people
ran back and forth, two figures caught her eye. They were running down the steps, away and toward the outside edge of
the camera’s coverage. It looked like a
mother and daughter. What was strange
was that while everyone else was running away, these two figures suddenly
stopped and remained still for a few seconds before continuing.
“Can you zoom in on
those?” she asked.
Justin complied, and
the computer isolated the frames from the camera and zoomed in, self-correcting
for pixilation at the same time. He
zoomed in as far as he could, and even though the picture was stretched due to
the angle of the camera from down the street, Roberts could clearly make them
out. It was Sarah and her mother.
Justin froze on the
clearest frame while Roberts studied them. It looked as though Sarah was tugging at her mother, and yet she was not
looking at her. Sarah was looking at
something else, something out of camera shot.
“Can you determine what
angle this little girl is looking at?” Roberts asked.
“Hmm,” he said. “Maybe.” He brought up a new window and began typing in it. To Roberts, all computer syntax looked like
Greek. “If we can correct the angle of
the picture,” Justin said, watching as the computer squared the dimensions,
“then we can overlay our cardinal points of direction.” Next, the video screen was covered with four
lines labeled north, south, east and west. “And if we can approximate the direction the girl’s head is
facing…”. He typed more lines and the
computer then zoomed out to an overhead view of the street, with a red line
approximating the angle that Sarah had been looking in the frame. “It looks like she may be looking
about…here,” he said. He pointed to the
street corner almost directly across the street from the cathedral.
Roberts frowned. “But we can’t see it.”
Justin shrugged. “Well, not on this camera. But we might be able to see it from the
camera facing the opposite direction one block down.”
After another ten
minutes of angle adjustments and computer enhancements, Roberts could see what
she believed Sarah had been staring at. A tall man, in a dark suit, standing on the corner watching the chaos
unfold. Unfortunately, she could not see
his face. What was very strange to her
though was that everyone was running or reacting to the carnage of the
explosion, even people on the other side of the street. Everyone except this man.
Roberts collected her
badge and identification and signed out. She walked purposefully across the lobby and through the double, sliding
glass doors, and was crossing the parking lot when her cell phone rang. She immediately recognized the extension from
the 19 th Precinct and accepted it.
“This is Roberts,” she answered.
“Cheryl, this is
Deborah from the station. I was told by
the deputy to give you a call.”
“Hey Deb, I was just on
my way back, what’s up?”
“Cheryl, there’s been
an incident.”
Roberts’ pace suddenly
slowed. “What incident?”
“Darlington said you
were using one of the safe houses.”
Oh no , thought
Roberts. She closed her eyes and took a
deep breath.
Deborah continued. “There were shots fired. We’re on the scene now, but I don’t have a
lot of detail yet. You might want to get
over there.”
“Oh god!” she said,
ending the call and running for her car. She fumbled for the keys as she ran. When she got to her car, she swung the door open and quickly jumped in,
jamming her key into
were no longer there.
The scenes were
awful. Watching in this level of detail
made her feel like it was happening all over again. She wanted to close her eyes and turn it off,
but she was afraid she might miss something crucial. Then finally, after several painful minutes
of watching frame by frame, she saw it.
While dozens of people
ran back and forth, two figures caught her eye. They were running down the steps, away and toward the outside edge of
the camera’s coverage. It looked like a
mother and daughter. What was strange
was that while everyone else was running away, these two figures suddenly
stopped and remained still for a few seconds before continuing.
“Can you zoom in on
those?” she asked.
Justin complied, and
the computer isolated the frames from the camera and zoomed in, self-correcting
for pixilation at the same time. He
zoomed in as far as he could, and even though the picture was stretched due to
the angle of the camera from down the street, Roberts could clearly make them
out. It was Sarah and her mother.
Justin froze on the
clearest frame while Roberts studied them. It looked as though Sarah was tugging at her mother, and yet she was not
looking at her. Sarah was looking at
something else, something out of camera shot.
“Can you determine what
angle this little girl is looking at?” Roberts asked.
“Hmm,” he said. “Maybe.” He brought up a new window and began typing in it. To Roberts, all computer syntax looked like
Greek. “If we can correct the angle of
the picture,” Justin said, watching as the computer squared the dimensions,
“then we can overlay our cardinal points of direction.” Next, the video screen was covered with four
lines labeled north, south, east and west. “And if we can approximate the direction the girl’s head is
facing…”. He typed more lines and the
computer then zoomed out to an overhead view of the street, with a red line
approximating the angle that Sarah had been looking in the frame. “It looks like she may be looking
about…here,” he said. He pointed to the
street corner almost directly across the street from the cathedral.
Roberts frowned. “But we can’t see it.”
Justin shrugged. “Well, not on this camera. But we might be able to see it from the
camera facing the opposite direction one block down.”
After another ten
minutes of angle adjustments and computer enhancements, Roberts could see what
she believed Sarah had been staring at. A tall man, in a dark suit, standing on the corner watching the chaos
unfold. Unfortunately, she could not see
his face. What was very strange to her
though was that everyone was running or reacting to the carnage of the
explosion, even people on the other side of the street. Everyone except this man.
Roberts collected her
badge and identification and signed out. She walked purposefully across the lobby and through the double, sliding
glass doors, and was crossing the parking lot when her cell phone rang. She immediately recognized the extension from
the 19 th Precinct and accepted it.
“This is Roberts,” she answered.
“Cheryl, this is
Deborah from the station. I was told by
the deputy to give you a call.”
“Hey Deb, I was just on
my way back, what’s up?”
“Cheryl, there’s been
an incident.”
Roberts’ pace suddenly
slowed. “What incident?”
“Darlington said you
were using one of the safe houses.”
Oh no , thought
Roberts. She closed her eyes and took a
deep breath.
Deborah continued. “There were shots fired. We’re on the scene now, but I don’t have a
lot of detail yet. You might want to get
over there.”
“Oh god!” she said,
ending the call and running for her car. She fumbled for the keys as she ran. When she got to her car, she swung the door open and quickly jumped in,
jamming her key into
Similar Books
